National T20: Rehman skippers Karachi Whites to first win

Captain scores unbeaten half-century to defeat Lahore Whites by seven wickets

KARACHI: Akbarur Rehman struck an unbeaten 65-run knock and built two strong partnerships to help Karachi Whites register their first victory in the ongoing National T20 as they defeated Lahore Whites by seven wickets at the Rawalpindi Stadium yesterday.

Chasing 179, Karachi Whites reached the target with seven wickets and two overs to spare. Karachi Whites lost two quick wickets when Ahsan Ali (14) and Asad Shafiq (10) were dismissed with the team on 52, but opener Zain Abbas built a 60-run partnership with skipper Rehman before Abbas fell on 39 runs.

Man of the match Rehman, whose 65 came off 38 balls and included eight fours and two maximums, built another partnership of 67 runs with Tariq Haroon, who also remained unbeaten and contributed 42 runs off just 18 balls.



Lahore Whites’ Ehsan Adil, Ziaul Haq and Amad Butt bagged one wicket each, giving away 29, 32 and 44 runs respectively. On the other hand, Kashif Bhatti conceded 44 runs without taking any scalp.

Earlier, Lahore posted 178-4 on the board in their allotted 20 overs with a strong 121-run partnership between Salman Butt and Umar Akmal. The side lost wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal quickly as he went for a duck.

Imran Butt was then dismissed on 11 runs before Salman stepped up and scored 73 runs, with Umar hitting 81, but eventually the duo’s efforts went in vain as Lahore’s bowlers were unable to contain Karachi.



Karachi Whites captain Rehman said that defeating a strong team like Lahore Whites, who had won their first two matches by nine wickets each, is a great achievement. “Our bowlers couldn’t offer much resistance but the batsmen played well,” he told The Express Tribune.

“Abbas stood with me when the team needed to halt the falling wickets and scored crucial runs, while Haroon played some really good strokes at the end, which helped us reach the target comfortably,” said Rehman. “Our next match is with Islamabad and we’re confident of defeating them too.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2016.

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